Thursday, 22 October 2015

Caramelised apple cake with a toffee topping

We brought back a load of apples from a holiday in France. Some of these I cooked in a sugar solution and decided to use some of these to bake an apple cake.

Begin making a batter. Mix together 225g of self-raising flour together with 2 tsp of ground cinnamon. Add 115g of unsalted butter and rub this into the flour. Add 115g light brown sugar and beat in 1 large egg and about 8 tbsp milk.

Then take around 225g of apples (you can use fresh just core and peel them and cut into chunks) and add these to the batter. If you like you can also add sultanas at this point (around 100g).

Pour into a lined 20cm loose bottomed cake tin and bake for around 30-40 minutes in a 180 degree C oven.

The cake should be golden and a skewer comes out clean when cooked.

Before cooking you can either sprinkle with a couple of tablespoons of demerara sugar which will give a crunchy topping. Or you can add a toffee sauce afterwards. Make this by combining 300ml double cream, 85g butter and 100g light brown sugar in a pan.

Heat gently until it is a smooth sauce.

Pour over enough to cover the top. Any remaining sauce can be kept in a container in the fridge for a week.